VRT and car import questions

The price of the car and transport, plus VRT, the NOx levy, and VAT and customs if your route needs them. The VRT calculator adds it all up for a specific car.

Vehicle Registration Tax: a one-off tax paid when a car is first registered in Ireland. For a passenger car it's a percentage of the OMSP, the price Revenue says the car would sell for here, so a cheap price abroad doesn't lower the VRT.

The car's CO2 emissions put it in one of 20 bands, from 7% of the OMSP at 0–50 g/km up to 41% above 190 g/km. Each band has a minimum charge, and the NOx levy is added on top.

A charge on nitrogen oxide emissions, added to VRT: €5 per mg/km up to 40, €15 per mg/km from 40 to 80, and €25 per mg/km above 80. Without proof of the NOx figure, the maximum applies: €4,850 for diesel vehicles, including diesel hybrids, and €600 for non-diesel vehicles. Electric cars don't pay it.

It depends where the car comes from. A used car from the EU (over six months old and over 6,000 km) normally carries no Irish VAT. From Great Britain, customs duty and VAT usually apply since Brexit. From Northern Ireland, it depends on proof of the car's status.

Electric cars sit in the lowest band at 7% of the OMSP and pay no NOx levy. Qualifying battery EVs also get up to €5,000 VRT relief until the end of 2026, tapering away as the OMSP rises from €40,000 to €50,000.

For a used car: the foreign registration certificate, proof of its CO2 and NOx figures (usually the Certificate of Conformity) and proof of your name and address. Without the right documents, the car won't be registered.

30 days from the day it arrives in Ireland. Book your VRT appointment at an NCTS centre early; the car is inspected and the VRT paid there.

No. Because VRT follows the car's Irish value, the saving has to come from the price gap. Compare the full import cost with what the same car sells for in Ireland.

No. It uses Revenue's rate tables and an estimate of the OMSP. Revenue sets the final VRT at your NCTS appointment.